Tuesday, June 3, 2025
The Lagos Today
  • Login
No Result
View All Result
No Result
View All Result
The Lagos Today
No Result
View All Result
Home Health

Over Two Million Unregistered Pharmaceutical Outlets operate in Nigeria

by Eucharia Egwuma
October 26, 2023
in Health
Reading Time: 3 mins read
0
0
Community Pharmacists in Lagos Decry Police Harassment
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

The Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria has revealed that over two million unregistered pharmaceutical premises are presently operating in the country.

The body lamented that the country is becoming a fertile ground for fake and substandard drug production due to the large number of such locations where medicinal drugs are dispensed and sold.

This alarm was raised by the PSN President, Professor Cyril Usifoh, who called for stricter measures to be adopted and enforcement of pharmaceutical regulations, stressing that unregistered premises pose a serious threat to public health, as they may not meet safety and quality standards.

“The PSN estimates that there are over 25,000 registered pharmacies and patent medicine shops in Nigeria, but this number pales in comparison to the estimated 2 million unregistered premises. Many of these unregistered premises are operating illegally, without any regulatory oversight or adherence to safety and quality standards,” he said.

Speaking at a press conference held in Lagos on Saturday, in commemoration of the forthcoming 96th Annual National Conference of the society tagged ‘Jewel City 2023, meant to take place in Gombe State from October 30 to November 4, he expressed displeasure that the Pharmacy Council of Nigeria, which is the regulating authority empowered to curtail the excesses and abuses of some unregistered pharmaceutical premises, lacks a substantive registrar.

The PSN president insisted that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration needed prompt guidance from the nation’s chief legal officer to help navigate the challenges facing the pharmaceutical sector.

He stressed that the president must address the PCN’s financing shortfall and appoint a substantive registrar to close the regulatory deficiencies in the industry.

According to him, “We can’t as a nation have a consuming evil of monstrosity, which the National Assembly has also identified, and you walk away as a government because some financial technocrats think they want to save money. It amounts to a comprehensive abdication of responsibility by an otherwise responsible government to contemplate this with PCN, which is both a peculiar and unique professional regulatory Council.

“Poor funding and the status quo of the Federal Government involvement have compelled Nigerians to live with physicians dispensing drugs in private hospitals, a thriving drug abuse and misuse culture, which is seriously consuming Nigerians, especially youths and even women.

“From the purview of existing laws, the Federal Government is compelled in Section 9 (1) of the PCN Act 2022 to provide budgetary and extra-budgetary allocations to the PCN.

“It will, therefore, be unlawful and illegal for the Budget Office to stop allocations to the PCN in the public interest.”

Usifoh, further lamented that Nigeria has lost over 6,000 pharmacists to brain drain in the last six years while more are preparing to leave.

He said, “We acknowledge that a few steps like the new salary structure and consultancy cadre, together with the PCN Act are welcome but much more is needed to significantly reverse the trend.”

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • X

Like this:

Like Loading...
Tags: NigeriaPharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN)Unregistered medicine stores
Previous Post

Lagos Govt impounds Over 100 Vehicles parked on Bridges

Next Post

Building Collapse: Lagos Govt should create Ministry for Testing Buildings – Surveyors 

Eucharia Egwuma

Eucharia Egwuma

Related Posts

Tome Biosciences Faces Uncertain Future Amidst Shifting Investor Sentiment in Gene Editing

Tome Biosciences Faces Uncertain Future Amidst Shifting Investor Sentiment in Gene Editing

by Faith Gamde
October 20, 2024
0

Tome Biosciences, a Massachusetts-based biotech startup with a bold vision to revolutionize genomic medicines, is now facing significant challenges. Despite...

Halda Therapeutics Raises $126 Million to Develop Groundbreaking Cancer Treatments

Halda Therapeutics Raises $126 Million to Develop Groundbreaking Cancer Treatments

by nnamdi ogbuagu
October 20, 2024
0

Halda Therapeutics, a biotech company based in Connecticut, has raised $126 million in a new round of funding. This brings...

Next Post
Ikoyi Tragedy: Survivor Begs LASG To Cover Medical Costs

Building Collapse: Lagos Govt should create Ministry for Testing Buildings - Surveyors 

Please login to join discussion

Recommended

Nigeria Recorded N7.3trn Foreign Trade Deficit in 2020

Nigeria Recorded N7.3trn Foreign Trade Deficit in 2020

4 years ago
Hacker Group, Anonymous, Claims Responsibility for LASG Website Cyber Attack

Hacker Group, Anonymous, Claims Responsibility for LASG Website Cyber Attack

5 years ago

Popular News

    Connect with us

    Tags

    #EndSARS 2023 Elections 2023 polls 2023 Presidency ACCIDENT Africa All progressives Congress APC Asiwaju Bola Tinubu Babajide Sanwo-Olu CBN Central Bank of NIgeria Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Coronavirus pandemic Covid-19 Covid-19 in Lagos Covid-19 in Nigeria Covid-19 Vaccine Cryptocurrency Economic and Financial Crimes Commission EFCC Federal Government Federal Government of Nigeria Fraud Gov. Sanwo-Olu House of Representatives Lagos-Ibadan expressway Lagos state Lagos State Government Lagos State House of Assembly Lagos State Police command Muhammadu Buhari Murder Naira NDLEA Nigeria Nigeria Customs Service Nigerian Economy Nigeria Police Force Rape Strike action TECH UK United Kingdom US

    News

    Opinion

    © 2020 The Lagos Today - Nkali.

    Welcome Back!

    Login to your account below

    Forgotten Password?

    Retrieve your password

    Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

    Log In
    No Result
    View All Result

    © 2020 The Lagos Today - Nkali.

    %d